Remove Ads From Your Android TV Home Screen While You Still Can
The latest Android TV Home update adds a new Cinema Highlights section to the Android TV home screen. This new tab, now one of the first you’ll see in the interface, automatically plays advertisements for new shows and movies. If this annoys you, you still have the option to fix it (for now).
To be honest, the ads are not too intrusive, but I sympathize with those who do not need them. This clutters the menu with unnecessary things that a lot of people probably won’t use . Also, is it really a “proposition” if you’re just showing everyone the same ad disguised as a trailer?
The Cinema Highlights tab will become permanent someday, but it’s not required for now. Users can remove ads by uninstalling the latest Android TV Home app update or by preventing it from downloading.
Uninstall the latest Android TV Home update.
You can uninstall the new Android TV Home app update if you’ve recently installed it. Be sure to remove it soon; otherwise, the option to rollback to the ad-free version on the home screen will no longer be available.
- On your Android TV device, go to Settings.
- Select Apps , then View All Apps and Show System Apps.
- Find and select “Android TV Home” from the list of apps.
- Select “Uninstall Updates” in the Application Options to uninstall the latest update and revert to the previous version of the application.
- Let the process run.
Since the Cinema Highlights category has been removed from the Android TV home screen, you now need to turn off automatic Android TV updates so that your device doesn’t accidentally reinstall it.
Prevent automatic app updates
You need to complete this step regardless of whether you installed the update or not. Otherwise, Android TV will automatically update your apps and reinstall ads on the home screen.
- Open the Google Play Store app on your Android TV device.
- Go to “Settings” from the side menu.
- Select “Auto-update apps”.
- Disable auto-updates. Please note that you will need to manually install app updates via Google Play while this setting is disabled.
Since the option of unwanted automatic app updates has been removed, you should now be safe from ads on your home screen, at least for now. Google will likely force everyone to use Cinematic Highlights by making it part of mandatory future updates, after which it will not be possible to downgrade to older versions of the Android TV Home app. But hey, that gives us a little more time to enjoy a less cluttered Android TV home screen.
[ 9to5Google ]